Prosecutors say N.H. reporter ran prostitution ring

Staff reports

Thursday

Jul 30, 2009 at 12:01 AMJul 30, 2009 at 9:33 AM

A veteran sports reporter for New Hampshire’s largest newspaper is accused of running a prostitution ring that began in Quincy, Mass., and stretched to two states and Canada and featured women who had auditioned for him.

A veteran sports reporter for New Hampshire’s largest newspaper is accused of running a prostitution ring in two states and Canada featuring women who had auditioned for him.

Kevin Provencher “auditioned” women in Manchester, N.H., and initially had them working in Quincy, Mass., until one of the women complained about the long drive and he moved the operation to Andover, Mass., prosecutors say. He advertised his prostitution ring’s services on Craigslist and other Web sites, they say.

He set up a similar operation in Canada, Essex Assistant District Attorney Michelle Defeo told the New Hampshire Union Leader, the newspaper for which Provencher has worked as a sports writer for more than two decades.

Provencher, 50, was arrested at his Manchester home early Wednesday and pleaded not guilty in Lawrence District Court to two counts of deriving support from prostitution. A judge ordered him held on $10,000 cash bail.

Defeo said Provencher hired two women after setting up a Web site for an escort service.

According to the Union Leader, Provencher met the women at a Manchester hotel to “audition” them. He was accused of giving one woman lingerie, having sex with her and then telling her she was hired, the newspaper reported, based on court documents.

Defeo said Provencher performed background checks on prospective customers to make sure they weren’t police officers, then would rent hotel rooms and provide the women with contact information for the clients. At the end of the day, the women would give Provencher half the money they earned or would deposit it an account he set up, Defeo said.

Police, who said they believe the operation started about a year ago, began investigating after management at the Spring Hill Suites hotel in Andover became suspicious and called authorities.

Police said they set up a sting operation at the hotel on June 11 and saw men entering and leaving a room. Defeo said law enforcement authorities “could clearly hear activities consistent with sexual intercourse,” the Union Leader reported.